Etheridge Knight Quotes

7 Sourced Quotes

I died in 1960 from a prison sentence and poetry brought me back to life.

Etheridge Knight

To write a blues song
is to regiment riots
and pluck gems from graves.

Etheridge Knight

Each Fall the graves of my grandfathers call me, the brown
hills and red gullies of mississippi send out their electric
messages, galvanizing my genes.

Etheridge Knight

The fears of years, like a biting whip,
Had cut deep bloody grooves
Across our backs.

Etheridge Knight

I boil my tears in a twisted spoon
And dance like an angel on the point of a needle.

Etheridge Knight

Love is a rock against the wind. Not soft like silk and lace.

Etheridge Knight

Let all Black Poets die as trumpets,
And be buried in the dust of marching feet.

Etheridge Knight

Etheridge Knight

Etheridge Knight

Born: April 19, 1931

Died: March 10, 1991 (aged 59)

Bio: Etheridge Knight was an African-American poet who made his name in 1968 with his debut volume, Poems from Prison. The book recalls in verse his eight-year-long sentence after his arrest for robbery in 1960.

Etheridge Knight on Wikipedia

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